Consolidate to save thousands
One in three Brits are set to borrow to fund Christmas this year, according to a new report, and many could save money by consolidating their debts.
According to Alliance & Leicester Personal Loans, 29 per cent of consumers are planning to borrow money and only 56 per cent will review their finances once the big day is over.
The financier claims that indebted Brits could save as much as £1,100 in interest repayments, if they chose to consolidate them with a loan.
Only half of consumers planning to consolidate believed that it could reduce their outgoings and just 38 per cent realised it could help towards clearing them totally.
Other reasons for consolidating included not making progress in paying off store and credit cards, finding difficult to juggle a number of payments and wanting the discipline of monthly repayments.
Claire Alvey, personal loans manager at Alliance & Leicester, commented: 'With many millions of pounds spent on the high street in the run-up to Christmas, shoppers will need to look at their finances and consider the different ways they can save money.
Debt consolidation is a sensible way of borrowing for anyone who has debt spread across more expensive store cards, credit cards or point-of-sale finance deals.' | 
